Common Sense Media

We're excited to share that PS1 is continuing our partnership with Common Sense to help guide you and your family through the challenges and opportunities of an "always connected" culture. We have renewed our Common Sense Premium membership for the 2023-24 school year, which means another year of accessing the best of Common Sense's resources, including weekly tips and invitations to in-person parent talks. Given the ubiquity of technology and the role it plays in every facet of our society, empowering young people with the skills and disposition they need to harness technology to its full potential is essential. Our partnership with Common Sense is part of our ongoing commitment to a whole-community approach of empowering students to think critically and use technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate. For more questions (and answers!) addressing navigating the increasingly complex issues of raising kids with technology, including media balance, cyberbullying, privacy, and news and media literacy, check out Common Sense Media's Parent Concerns resources:

• The Common Sense Connecting Families resources. Here is a video that walks you through the resources if you would like a virtual tour. It also contains the discussion guides with videos.
• Parents are always grateful for the Parent Concerns information page. Here is one on Internet Safety.
• The issue of YouTube. Here is A Parent's Ultimate Guide to YouTube.
• There are hundreds of app reviews on the site but these are especially useful: 50 Apps All Kids Should Play at Least Once, 50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They Are 12, and our Essential Creativity Guide.
• Another essential family go-to is the Family Toolbox. Check it out to access everything from a digital glossary to a family media agreement and customizable device contract.
• If you are on Facebook, CSM encourages parents to follow Common Sense Media.
• Please consider signing up to receive timely Common Sense information. You can do that by clicking here. Look in the upper right corner of the site and there's a great new "For Your Family" option that allows you to customize content based on the age(s) of your kid(s).
• Click to read an article recently published in The Atlantic about "sharenting." Here is the link to see that piece, "When Kids Realize Their Whole Life is Online Already" by Taylor Lorenz.
• If you want to read more about screen time and limit setting, click here.
• For the Common Sense Ultimate Guide to You Tube, check it out here. You can also view reviews of specific You Tube channels.
• If you want to learn more about parental controls, here is a Common Sense primer about this issue.
• And, of course, check out all of the up-to-date reviews of movies, books, apps and video games.

Don't hesitate to contact Lisa Solomon, Senior Manager, Connected Schools Program, if you have any questions or interest in learning more about Common Sense and the local events here in Los Angeles.